University Of Cumbria Referencing Guide

University Of Cumbria Referencing Guide

Whilst studying at university you will need to refer to information from books, websites, journals and other sources in your assignments. You must acknowledge or ‘cite’ this information in your work and include full details in your list of references. If you don’t do this correctly, you could be accused of stealing other people’s ideas or words and trying to pass them off as your own. This is known as plagiarism.

Referencing can seem a bit daunting at first, but don’t panic! The introductory tutorial below will help you feel a bit more confident. It will also give you some ideas about how to avoid plagiarism and use techniques such as paraphrasing.

Referencing gets easier the more you do it, but if you still feel you need help after looking at the following resources then email skills@cumbria.ac.uk or Ask a librarian (Ask a librarian is available 5pm – 9am)

Most courses, at the University of Cumbria, use the Harvard system of referencing contained in Cite them right 10th edition. This book is your key to referencing and can be accessed / purchased here:

Each of our libraries hold copies of Cite them right

Citethemrightonline is a fully electronic version (you will need to login, if accessing from off campus, using your normal university username and password).

Citethemrightonline is also available via the Useful Links button in the Student Hub.

Cite them right can be purchased from Amazon and other good book retailers.

Download our Quick Guide to Referencing for examples of how to reference some of the more common types of sources.

If you are studying Psychology (APA), English (MHRA) or Law (OSCOLA) click here to find guidance on their referencing styles.

Other Referencing Styles

APA – American Psychological Association

A Very Quick Guide to APA Referencing – a handy two page PDF for you to print and keep.

APA Style – Online tutorials and FAQs from the American Psychological Association. www.apastyle.org

OSCOLA – Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities

Quick referencing guide

Full OSCOLA guide

OSCOLA website

What is Turnitin?

The University uses Turnitin for the electronic submission of assignments. Turnitin is also a plagiarism software which will check your work for matches against other materials in its database. You can use this software yourself, to check your work and avoid inadvertent plagiarism. To do this go to the Turnitin section in the skills@cumbria tab on Blackboard, where you will be able to submit your assignments.

More information about Turnitin

What is RefWorks?

Refworks is an online reference management software that is available from the Eresources pages. It helps you to collect your references and to create your reference list in the correct format.

A Getting started with Refworks guide is available.

If you have any queries about referencing please email skills@cumbria.ac.uk.